Sustainable Charcoal Production for Developing Nations

1.0 Introduction

The majority of African households will continue depending on traditional fuels to meet their

daily energy needs for many decades to come. In particular, the demand for charcoal in most

countries in the region continues to grow at high rates owing to the ever-increasing rural-urban

migration. These trends, coupled with inefficient charcoal production and consumption practices,

and inaccessibility by most households to reliable and affordable commercial energy forms puts

in deep uncertainty the future dependence on the already-dwindling biomass resource for energy.

A systems approach to sustainable biomass production and consumption as regards charcoal is

proposed. Based on the life-cycle concept, the optimum policy and institutional arrangements

necessary for this strategy to achieve its goal are prescribed. The strategy can be potentially

adopted in all sub-Saharan African countries with various socio-economic and environmental

gains. At a time when the continent is searching for lasting solutions to energy insecurity as well

as reducing poverty, the strategy proposed provides such a chance for the poor to achieve this

goal in the short term, while preparing them to gain access to reliable and affordable commercial

energy options.

2.0 Significant increases in access to cleaner commercial energy are unlikely

Africa starts the 21st Century as the poorest, the most technologically backward, the most debt

distressed, and the most marginalised region in the world1. Drought, disease, civil conflict and

poor governance make the situation worse. Consequently, Africans' quality of life continued to

erode over the last decade. In sub-Saharan Africa, an average 52% of people live on less than

US$1 per day and urban poverty is increasingly severe, with about 43% of urban dwellers living

below the poverty line of US$47 per month per capita2. National economies have not performed

well over the past decade and opportunities for employment and household-level income

generating have diminished-hence the family savings to facilitate transition to and investment in

modern energy are minimal. Because of these, at least 80% of the African population continues

to depend on traditional biomass fuels (charcoal and firewood) for their energy needs3.

The continent's urban population growing at an average rate of 4% per annum4….mainly

increasing the urban poor population…. is putting more demand for charcoal, and by extension

1 ECA (2001) Transforming Africa's Economies. Economic Report on Africa 2000, Economic

Commission for Africa, 85p. Addis Ababa.

2 ECA (2001) Ibid.

3 African Ministerial Statement, African Preparatory Conference for the World Summit on

Sustainable Development, 18 October 2001, Nairobi, Kenya.

4 Harsch, E. (2001) African cities under strain, AFRICA RECOVERY, Vol.15 No.1–2 United

Nations. June, pp30–34.

the forests and other biomass sources. Although the cost of renewable energy technologies

(RETs) have fallen over the past decade5, the magnitude of the drop has not been significant

enough to compete kerosene….the commonly used liquid fossil fuel. Significant awareness of

RETs has, however, been raised in many countries in Africa. It is therefore reasonable to infer

that biomass (mainly firewood and charcoal) will remain the key sources of energy for most of

the population in sub-Saharan Africa for several decades to come. This observation is shared by

various